La Trinidad, Benguet – Agriculture industry stakeholders in the province support the passage of a proposed ordinance institutionalizing the barangay-based agriculture extension program to significantly improve the data-gathering on the overall state of the agriculture sector in the province.
Boardmember Nestor Fongwan, Jr. stated that one of the key features of the ordinance he authored is the proposed hiring of a barangay agriculture extension worker (BAEW) in each of the 140 barangays as the focal persons in providing the government with the true state of agriculture in the province.
During the public consultation conducted by the provincial board on the proposed ordinance, representatives from the provincial and municipal agriculture offices expressed their all-out support to the passage of the proposed measure so that the province can improve its data on agriculture for the benefit of decision-makers and policy-makers not only in the local level, but also in the national scene.
Under the proposed ordinance, the provincial government will provide the BAEWs with a monthly honoraria of P800 and the opportunity to attend two mandatory seminars and trainings annually without prejudice to the concerned municipal governments adopting the same program and providing additional compensation to the said work on the province’s agriculture sector.
Fongwan said that the BAEWs will be in charge of identifying the agriculture industry stakeholders in the barangay, the actual land area being tilled by each of the farmers, the type of crops being raised by the farmers, among others so that the data on the ground will be inputted on the agriculture department’s registry system of basic sectors in agriculture (RSBSA) for the concerned stakeholders to be able to avail of any assistance to be provided by the government for the improvement of the agriculture sector in the province.
According to him, the BAEWs will be the focal persons on agriculture on the ground, especially during assessments on damages inflicted by natural and man-made calamities on the agriculture sector in their places.
Fongwan admitted there were instances in the past where the land area of agricultural crops affected by natural and man-made calamities were more than the actual agriculture area in some barangays in the province.
He pointed out the provision of actual data on the ground through the BAEWs will help concerned government agencies and local governments in planning and implementing the appropriate programs and projects to sustain the development of the agriculture sector as one of the major economic drivers of the province, being the major producer of more than 80 percent of the highland vegetables being distributed in the different parts of the country.
He asserted it is important for local farmers to be included in the agriculture department’s registry because this will be the basis in the grant of appropriate benefits to the agriculture stakeholders when calamities or other incidents occur for them to recover from the effects of whatever disasters that will affect their production. By HENT